Sugar Toad in Naperville?

Anyone been yet? Searched and did not have any luck finding any previous topics, please merge if they exist.

Sugar Toad
2139 CityGate Ln
Naperville, IL 60567
630-579-7834
www.sugartoad.com

Vettel just gave it a three-star review in The Tribune, but given that he rates just about every restaurant two- or three-stars, I don't know how useful that is.

ld111134 wrote:Vettel just gave it a three-star review in The Tribune, but given that he rates just about every restaurant two- or three-stars, I don't know how useful that is.

A recent exception to that generalization is the one star he just gave to Marion Street Cheese Market, a painful disappointment to all of us fans of this place.

David Hammond wrote:

ld111134 wrote:Vettel just gave it a three-star review in The Tribune, but given that he rates just about every restaurant two- or three-stars, I don't know how useful that is.

A recent exception to that generalization is the one star he just gave to Marion Street Cheese Market, a painful disappointment to all of us fans of this place.

That must be an "outlier".

I'd like to see a distribution curve of Vettel's reviews and compare them to the distribution of star ratings for other restaurant critics (e.g. David Tamarkin of Time Out Chicago, Frank Bruni of The New York Times). It seems to me that Vettel keeps 99% of his reviews in the two- and three-star range.

ld111134 wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

ld111134 wrote:Vettel just gave it a three-star review in The Tribune, but given that he rates just about every restaurant two- or three-stars, I don't know how useful that is.

A recent exception to that generalization is the one star he just gave to Marion Street Cheese Market, a painful disappointment to all of us fans of this place.

That must be an "outlier".

What made the one star even more painful is that Vital Information and I were in the market a few days before the review broke, assuring owner Erik Larson that Vettel "never gave out anything less than two stars."

David Hammond wrote:What made the one star even more painful is that Vital Information and I were in the market a few days before the review broke, assuring owner Erik Larson that Vettel "never gave out anything less than two stars."

Ouch.

I was there for lunch yesterday. It's a pretty space and the food was very good but I only had an omelette so I can't give much of a review.

I have been hearing great things about this place, a bit off the beaten path but well worth the effort! Jimmy Sneed is really doing something stand out here.

parm0318 wrote:I have been hearing great things about this place, a bit off the beaten path but well worth the effort! Jimmy Sneed is really doing something stand out here.

care to elaborate on what these "great things" are? and what makes it worth the effort to try this place. I have heard very little about Sugar Toad, and nothing to make me want to give it a try.

Phil Vettel named it as one of the 10 Best Restaurants to open in 2008.

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/ ... staur.html

If understatement is a statement, SugarToad is a screamer.

Attractive room, attentive, knowledgeable and friendly service, excellent ingredients and darned good technique in the kitchen. The food is upscale, regional American (tidal Virginia would be my description), and the place bears a lot of similarities to Prairie Grass Cafe, which is high praise. The goal may be to be something like Vie, but I can't make that comparison.

But nothing, not one dish (okay maybe one, but it is a weird one) made me go Wow. And I expected a lot more wow.

As reported everywhere, the amuse is a little taste of SugarToad (a Chesapeake Bay Blowfish) - a bit of fried tail in a creamy bit of sauce. It was a promising start.

We started with a couple of soups - mine was an excellent buttnernut squash and nut (pecan, I believe) soup, not too sweet, well balanced, rich squash flavor. My companion also started with a soup, and then moved on to a spinach salad, with a poached local egg, bacon and a light, tasty dressing, it was reported. From there, we went on to mains, pan-seared arctic char on a bed of fennel and mushrooms for me, and the current duck dish on which I can supply no details.

Which brings me to this - there is a menu on SugarToad's web site, but the menu changes daily and while it resembled the menu on the site, it also differed a lot in specific preparations. Guess I should have asked for a copy of that day's menu.

For dessert I ordered the Tapioca Pudding, based on Jimmy's Mom's recipe I was told, and it was wonderful, creamy, dressed with a sprig of mint, and some dried fruit, rich, creamy and just delightful. Easily the high point of the meal.

The wine list is limited to American bottlings, proudly in the spirit of locavores. Markups seemed high, the wines were, for the most part, pretty young and while there were a few interesting things on the list, it was unexciting - the Pinot Noirs were clearly the best and we had an enjoyable Dumol.

SugarToad is a very good restaurant. The ingredients are clearly of the best quality and they take center stage, as opposed to kitchen magic or assertive seasonings, and I respect that, as I respect the sure hand that delivered each plate perfectly prepared, and the strong service. But aside from that Tapioca, I was not wowed, and I really wanted to be wowed.

I need to take the Bride, and I will report on that meal. That should help me figure out if the understatement is the statement, or just what I ordered.

I had a very similar experience to Dicksond on a recent Saturday night out there with my wife. Good food, but nothing spectacular except for dessert. Expensive alcohol.

Wife had the butternut squash soup and kobe mushroom stuffed medallions and was very happy. I started with a very nice selection of 3 kinds of olives (all greek) and 2 kinds of blue cheese (one sharp, one milder) from a separate 'small bites' bar menu, then moved on to a pork belly appetizer. I have never ordered pork belly, but had expectations of something different. This was a pretty pallid piece of mild tasting pork with a thick layer of fat and no crispiness. I did like the vinegary collard greens side. My entree was a very nice Cobia fish with a buttery sauce, some pleasant sugar snap peas and a non-memorable starch. Being pretty full, we split an apple tart for dessert, and it was stunningly good with a crispy, chewy, caramely crust and and rich vanilla ice-cream.

We were a little put off by the service and prices. We came in without reservations but were told we could eat in the bar area at a long, thin S-shaped table. We were served by the bartender who was friendly and knowledgable about the menu, but no bread or water. Wines by the glass were $10-$18 and and the initial bill had two glasses for my wife instead of one (quickly corrected with an apology). Coffee with a shot of Bailey's was $15.50.

Interesting menu so I would try it again, maybe for lunch to try the crabcakes and that tapioca pudding, but not at the top of my list for dinner.

We received a gift certificate for Sugar Toad, and were wondering how it is, and how are the prices? I've seen a review or two that looked promising...


Sugar Toad
Hotel Arista
2139 CityGate Ln
Naperville, IL 60567
630-778-8623
www.sugartoad.com

The search tool is your friend.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=21534&hilit=sugar+toad

I know, I know, and I know better....

Hadn't seen much on here since a while back then saw this clip:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/channel?sect ... id=5770526

Anyone tried their soft shells?

We did go back in April with some friends, and I think we did sample the soft shell, as well as revisiting the crab cakes.

It was an interesting experience, in that the impression was exactly the same as the first time, but I liked it much more. I was prepared to savor the perfection of the fresh, lightly seasoned, perfectly prepared ingredients (the crab cakes, for example, are a fascinating study, proving that while less filler and more crab is generally desirable, there is a minimum amount of filler required for the ideal crab cake, and I think Sugar Toad has dropped below that minimum, but it was great Crab!).

My three companions, all there for the first time, were not so pleased, calling the food a bit bland. Which I get, but I feel like Jimmy is aiming to cook American regional food filtered through a Japanese aesthetic (but not fusion food, oh no). So the soft shell crab is prepared to taste as much like pure soft shell crab, the crab cakes like crab meat, etc. Embellshment and preparation serve only to heighten and reveal the true character of the central ingredient.

A form of Zen dining where subtlety and simplicity are center stage, it could grow on you. Say Om.